Robert W. Wassmer is Associate Professor in the Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration at California State University, Sacramento. As Director of the system-wide California State University Faculty Fellows Applied Research Program, he heads a group of public policy consultants to the state of California. His research in urban economic development and state/local public finance has appeared in numerous prestigious journals such as the Journal of Urban Economics and Urban Studies. He has taught at Wayne State University's Department of Economics and College of Urban, Labor, and Metropolitan Affairs, and holds a PhD from Michigan State University.

• Notes on Editor and Authors. Acknowledgments.Part I: Introduction:.1. Editorial Introduction: Robert W. Wassmer (Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration, California State University, Sacramento).2. US Cities Coming Back from Decades of Decline: John Machacek (Writer, Gannett News Service).Part II: Urban Growth:.3. The Draw of Downtown: Big Growth Predicted for Many US Cities: Dorian Friedman (Writer, US News and World Report).4. The State of the Cities: Downtown is Up: The Economist.5. Urban Diversity and Economic Growth: John M. Quigley (Department of Economics and Goldman School of Public Policy; University of California, Berkeley).6. Projecting Growth of Metropolitan Areas: Edwin S. Mills (Department of Finance, Northwestern University) and Luan Sende Lubuelle (Department of Economics, Northwestern University).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Part III: Location, Land Use, and Urban Sprawl:.7. Dreams of Fields: The New Politics of Urban Sprawl: Timothy Egan (Writer, The New York Times).8. Al Gore Has A New Worry: George F. Will (Newsweek).9. Urban Spatial Structure: Alex Anas (Department of Economics, University of Buffalo); Richard Arnott (Department of Economics, Boston College); and Kenneth A. Small (Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine).10. How America's Cities are Growing: The Big Picture: Anthony Downs (Economic Studies Program, Brookings Institution).11. Prove It: The Costs and Benefits of Sprawl: Peter Gordon (Department of Economics and School of Policy, Planning, and Development; University of Southern California); and Harry W. Richardson (Department of Economics and School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California).12. Comment on Carl Abbott's 'The Portland Region: Where Cities and Suburbs Talk to Each Other and Often Agree': William A. Fischel (Department of Economics, Dartmouth College).13. Do Suburbs Need Cities?: Richard Voith (Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Part IV: Local Economic Development Incentives:.14. Ohio Looks Hard at What's Lost Through Business Subsidies: Neal R. Pierce (Writer, Washington Post).15. Jobs, Productivity, and Local Economic Development: What Implications Does Economic Research Have for the Role of Government: Timothy J. Bartik (Economist, W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research).16. Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: Are New Stadiums Worth the Cost?: Roger G. Noll (Department of Economics, Stanford University) and Andrew Zimbalist (Department of Economics, Smith College).17. Can Local Incentives Alter a Metropolitan City's Economic Development?: Robert W. Wassmer (Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration, California State University, Sacramento).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Part V: Race, Employment, and Poverty in Urban Areas: .18. Big U. S. Cities Carry Welfare Burden: Deep Poverty, Isolation from Suburbs Keep Many from Independence: Laura Meckler (Writer, Associated Press).19. Race Panel Divided Over Poverty: Experts Disagree on Causes, Cures of Urban Problems: Louis Freedberg (Writer, The San Francisco Chronicle).20. No Easy Way Out: Study Finds Urban Poverty Digs Heels In: Jamie Woodwell (Writer, Nation's Cities Weekly) and Susan Rosenblum (Nation's Cities Weekly).21. Inner Cities: Edwin S. Mills (Department of Finance, Northwestern University) and Luan Sende Lubuele (Department of Economics, Northwestern University).22. Information on the Spatial Distribution of Job Opportunities within Metropolitan Areas: Keith R. Ihlanfeldt (Department of Economics, Georgia State University).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Part VI: Urban Public Education:.23. Why I'm Reluctantly Backing Vouchers: Arthur Levine (Teachers College, Columbia University).24. Current Issues in Public Urban Education: Lawrence O. Picus (School of Education, University of Southern California).25. Why is it So Hard to Help Central City Schools?: William Duncombe (Department of Public Administration, Syracuse University) and John Yinger (Department of Economics, Syracuse University).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Part VII: Urban Public Housing:.26. Miracle in New Orleans: What Do a Bunch of College Professors Know About Fixing Public Housing Projects? A Lot, it Turns Out: S. C. Gwynne (Writer, Time Magazine).27. Urban Housing Policy in the 1990s: Stuart A. Gabriel (Department of Finance, University of Southern California).28. The Dynamics of Housing Assistance Spells: Thomas L. Hungerford (United States General Accounting Office and The American University).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Part VIII: Urban Crime:.29. The Mystery of the Falling Crime Rate: David C. Anderson (Writer, San Diego Union-Tribune).30. Bright Lights, Big City, and Safe Streets: Urban Dwellers Bask in Greater Sense of Security, as Crime Rates Drop Even Further: Leon Lazaroff (Writer, Christian Science Monitor) and Jim Blair (Writer, Christian Science Monitor).31. Urban Crime: Issues and Policies: Ann Dryden Witte (Department of Economics, Florida International University).32. Estimating the Economic Model of Crime with Panel Data: Christopher Cornwell (Department of Economics, University of Georgia) and William Trumbull (Department of Economics, West Virginia University).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Part IX: Urban Transportation: .33. Or, Why Motorists Always Outsmart Planners, Economists, and Traffic Engineers: The Unbridgeable Gap: The Economist.34. You Ride, I'll Pay: Social Benefits and Transportation Subsidies: Janet Rothenburg Pack (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania).35. Urban Traffic Congestion: A New Approach to the Gordian Knot: Kenneth A. Small (Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine).36. Infrastructure Services and the Productivity of Public Capital: The Case of Streets and Highways: Marlon G. Boarnet (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of California, Irvine).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Part X: Local Government:.37. Why I Love the Suburbs: Debra Meyers (Citizen Editorialist, Buffalo News).38. Metropolitan Fiscal Disparities: Roy Bahl (Department of Economics, Georgia State University).39. Economic Influences on the Structure of Local Government in US Metropolitan Areas: Ronald C. Fisher (Department of Economics and Honors College, Michigan State University) and Robert W. Wassmer (Graduate Program in Public Policy and Administration, California State University, Sacramento).Further Reading Samples.Discussion Questions.Appendix: Academic Journals and Websites in Applied and Policy-Orientated Urban Economics.Index.